Suddenly, the IAEA is a credible source! by Dan Alba
(libertarian)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Associated Press reportage on the Iranian nuclear row portrays aggression as self-defense. A typical report includes multiple U.S. and Israeli accusations that Iran is building nuclear weapons, followed by one Iranian denial, and wraps up with the pro-policy opinion of "independent experts."
On rare occasion, though, the "world's most trusted source of news and information" will cite the most authoritative and credible third-party source on the Iranian nuclear program: the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"Well," you might say. "That can only be good!" After all, the IAEA has repeatedly maintained that Iran is not diverting its nuclear program to make weapons. Perhaps through factual refutation and reason, another holocaust by aggressive economic and military war will be avoided.
If only.
True, the AP has cited the IAEA on the Iranian nuclear program, but only as the agency's statements can be spun to support the spurious U.S. and Israeli claims. The most glaring case coincides with a recent change in the wording of the IAEA's report.
The U.S., Israel and others believe Iran is hiding nuclear weapons development under the guise of a civilian energy program. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, also says it's worried Iran may be working on a nuclear warhead.
It should be noted that in the same report, as in countless others, the editor's narrative includes something that even the Iranian's regime's enemies expose as a hoax:
Israel, meanwhile, considers Iran to be its greatest threat, citing . . . President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats to destroy Israel and Iran's nuclear program.
The non-existent "threat to destroy" and the non-existent "nuclear threat" have for years been coupled by the AP and other state-coddling news outlets to turn reality on its head, thus fostering anti-Iran sentiment amongst readers. Imagine the scale of that effect when the AP, alone, claims that "half the world" sees its "news" every day. While you're imagining, recall that the aggressive U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq was sold as a similar bill of goods by the same "news" organizations.
Don't be fooled again. You'd be better off to assume that everything the AP report on matters of state is wrong, then go from there.
- - - - -
In other "news," an AP report mourns a perceived setback in the success of imperial U.S. foreign policy. Therein, the editor tells lies — albeit vicariously, through official U.S. liars — about Iran's closest ally, Syria:
First imposed by Bush and renewed by Obama in May, the sanctions cite Syria's support for terrorism, its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and other activities including efforts to undermine U.S. operations in Iraq.
If the AP was in fact a trustworthy and "independent source of news," the editor would have used the word "allege" instead of "cite" — or "alleged" would have been inserted between "Syria's" and "support," and so on. Instead, the editor is stating the accusations as though they were proved facts.
Source-citing, AP style.
Dan Alba is a freelance writer living in the SW region of the USSA. Dan suggests that you support liberty-driven congressional candidates like Jake Towne and Rand Paul.
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